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Dietitians aim to improve health in Food Deserts

With so many cases of food insecurity and hunger, dietitians, such as La Salle Nutrition Professor Henstenburg

These charts show Food Security in the United States. Children unfortunately tend to be food insecure.

, look to assist with the problem using their knowledge.

The major difference between the two problems citizens face is that food insecurity is less about the physical bodily reaction to the lack of food.

According to Henstenburg, food insecurity is “not having economic or physical access to food” while hunger is “a physiologic issue, hunger is the feeling of painful sensations that come from a lack of eating.”

The biggest populations dealing with hunger are the elderly, children, and women.

Many women and children are hungry because of how many single-family homes there are with a woman as the head of the family Henstenburg explained.

The dietitians and nutritionists hope to make a difference in areas in need by providing assistance at grocery stores around the city.

The areas in need of special assistance are the places described as food deserts. These food deserts are places without a grocery store with fresh food.

“Food deserts are typically considered a place where sort of fresh healthy food is not readily available,” said Henstenburg. “It’s typically considered a place where people will go to small markets or convenient stores to buy the food that they need.”

In addition to these food deserts, people struggle to eat healthy because of a lack of money, time, and cooking skills.

Henstenburg said that she hopes to improve healthy eating habits by providing pamphlets and educating people in these three areas. Another way to help out is by volunteering at food drives and other helpful programs such as The Share Food Program.